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u.s. news Diasabra 18 september 2021

New York tosses jail time for most minor parole violations

(AP) — New Yorkers will Hochul and lawmakers to “They shouldn’t have to wait
be able to avoid jail time make it effective immedi- until the enactment date,”
for most nonviolent pa- ately. Hochul said.
role violations under a
new law signed Friday by That would “stop the un- She said she’s working with
Gov. Kathy Hochul. necessary suffering,” said corrections officials to start
Shaun Whitaker, a member transferring incarcerated
The “Less is More” law of the Katal Center for Eq- people from Rikers Island to
largely eliminates New uity, Health, and Justice, an state corrections facilities.
York’s practice of incarcer- advocacy group. “This bill
ating people for technical passing will eliminate the Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin
parole violations, including fear of missing a call from my sponsored the legislation,
being late to an appointment parole officer, or being late which allows people on pa-
with a parole officer, missing to a meeting. I won’t have role to receive “earned time
curfew, or failing to pay fees to fear asking for help when credits” to encourage positive
or to inform a parole officer it comes to substance abuse behavior and grants them the
of a change in employment. counseling.” right to counsel at parole re- The new law speeds up the “conduct related to cannabis”
vocation hearings. hearing timeline. Courts that is legal under state law.
Starting in March, people on And the move means an esti- must use “least restrictive” Republicans, a minority in
parole will land back behind mated 5,000 people who are “When you get to understand means to ensure people ap- the Legislature, have accused
bars only for drug or alcohol behind bars in New York for the complications ... around pear, though they could Democrats of focusing more
use if they were convicted of technical parole violations how technical parole viola- detain people with proven on perpetrators of crimes
driving under the influence could eventually be eligible tions can lead to more in- “substantial risk” of refusing than victims.
of those substances. for release. New York City carceration then the original to show up.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said the crime in some cases, you say Benjamin stressed the issue
Supporters of the law say that city will be releasing “hun- to yourself: ‘Was this done Courts could direct people isn’t simply about “letting
New York has one of the the dreds and hundreds of peo- particularly to harm poor who violate most technical people out” of prison.
nation’s highest rates of in- ple the right way.” Black and brown communi- rules to receive reentry ser-
carcerating people for techni- ties, or was this done to keep vices from nonprofit com- “If someone has a mental
cal parole violations, and that The governor said she’s go- us safe?’” Benjamin, a Har- munity groups, rather than health issue, is someone has
the practice is costly and fuels ing to sign off Friday on the lem Democrat, said. jail. The law caps how long drug addiction, the answer
the cycle of people landing release of 191 eligible in- people can be imprisoned should not be prison,” Ben-
behind bars again after serv- mates from New York City’s Currently, people suspecting again for other violations. jamin said. “Prison is not a
ing their time. notorious Rikers Island jail of violating parole can be im- drug treatment facility, it’s
complex, troubled by years of mediately jailed for up to 105 Parole rules will no longer in- not a mental health facility.
Criminal justice advocates neglect. days while awaiting hearings. clude fraternizing with oth- We should be driving them
applauded the law but urged ers with a criminal record, or toward the help they need.

Thousands of Haitian migrants converge on Texas border town

(AP) — Thousands of Haitian migrants have for as long as six days. administration ended its practice of admitting
assembled under and around a bridge in asylum-seeking migrants daily who were deemed
a small Texas border town, presenting the Some migrants built cave-like shelters within the especially vulnerable.
Biden administration with a new and chaotic reeds along the river, Owens said. Trash piles were
challenge Friday as it tries to manage large 10 feet (3.1 meters) wide and at least two women “People are panicking on how they seek refuge,”
numbers of asylum-seekers who have been have given birth, including one who tested positive Phillips said.
reaching U.S. soil. for COVID-19 after being taken to a hospital, he
said. Edgar Rodríguez, lawyer for the Casa del Migrante
Haitians crossed the Rio Grande freely and in a migrant shelter in Piedras Negras, north of Del
steady stream, going back and forth between the Haitians have been migrating to the U.S. in large Rio, noticed an increase of Haitians in the area two
U.S. and Mexico through knee-deep water with numbers from South America for several years, or three weeks ago and believes that misinforma-
some parents carrying small children on their many of them having left the Caribbean nation tion may have played a part. Migrants often make
shoulders. Unable to buy supplies in the U.S., they after a devastating earthquake in 2010. After jobs decisions on false rumors that policies are about to
returned briefly to Mexico for food and cardboard dried up from the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio change and that enforcement policies vary by city.
to settle, temporarily at least, under or near the de Janeiro, many made the dangerous trek by foot,
bridge in Del Rio, a city of 35,000 that has been se- bus and car to the U.S. border, including through U.S. authorities are being severely tested after
verely strained by migrant flows in recent months. the infamous Darien Gap, a Panamanian jungle. President Joe Biden quickly dismantled Trump ad-
ministration policies that Biden considered cruel
The vast majority of the estimated 12,000 migrants It is unclear how such a large number amassed so or inhumane, most notably one requiring asylum-
at the bridge on Friday were Haitian, said Val Verde quickly, though many Haitians have been assem- seekers to remain in Mexico while waiting for U.S.
County Judge Lewis Owens, who is the county’s bling in camps on the Mexican side of the border, immigration court hearings. Such migrants have
top elected official and whose jurisdiction includes including in Tijuana, across from San Diego, to been exposed to extreme violence in Mexico and
Del Rio. Some families have been under the bridge wait while deciding whether to attempt to enter faced extraordinary difficulty in finding attorneys.
the United States.
The U.S Supreme Court last month let stand a
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security did judge’s order to reinstate the policy, though Mexi-
not immediately respond to a request for com- co must agree to its terms. The Justice Department
ment. “We will address it accordingly,” Homeland said in a court filing this week that discussions with
Security Alejandro Mayorkas said on MSNBC. the Mexican government were ongoing.

Some Haitians at the camp have lived in Mexican A pandemic-related order to immediately expel
cities on the U.S. border for some time, moving migrants without giving them the opportunity to
often between them, while others arrived recently seek asylum that was introduced in March 2020 re-
after being stuck near Mexico’s southern border mains in effect, but unaccompanied children and
with Guatemala, said Nicole Phillips, the legal many families have been exempt. During his first
director for advocacy group Haitian Bridge Alli- month in office, Biden chose to exempt children
ance. A sense of desperation spread after the Biden traveling alone on humanitarian grounds.